MASON CITY, Iowa – Gone may be the days of “old-fashioned” farming, as more technology makes its way to the fields.

According to a study by Float Mobile, more than two-million farmers in the country use a smartphone and agricultural apps.

The apps help those in the agriculture industry to monitor everything from rain to nitrate levels in their fields.

There is also the added benefit of being able to control what goes on at the field without being anywhere near it.

“We can monitor rainfall at fields that we have, say 20 miles away from home. When we have a rain storm come through, the next morning I can look in my phone and say, ‘hey you got an inch and a half of rain last night’,” said Kevin Pope, an area farmer.

Pope says in the next few years he expects to see more drone usage in monitoring crops.

He says his biggest concern however is who will own the rights to the information gathered.

“There are some older farmers out there that really did not grow up with this kind of technology and they’re kind of the old-school. They’re just not going to go that route, but it’s just unbelievable the amount of technology that’s out there to make our jobs a lot easier,” said Pope.